ROH 241 – Survival Of The Fittest 2009 – 10th October 2009
After missing last year when it got lost in the shuffle of the regime change, ROH’s annual Survival Of The Fittest tournament returns tonight. Traditionally it’s one of the weaker shows of the year for some reason, with the 2005, 2006 and 2007 editions being all but one match shows. However, the field for tonight is arguably the strongest of all the SOTF’s thus far. Three returning winners are here, including defending holder Chris Hero, join a field of impressive talent featuring the likes of Tyler Black, Kenny Omega and Kevin Steen. As ever, all the talent comes to earn a future World Title shot. There’s also a couple of non-tournament tag team matches, including Austin Aries teaming with Davey Richards, the man against whom he’ll soon be defending the World Title. We’re in Indianapolis, IN. I’m assuming commentary will once again come from multiple combinations of Prazak, Hero, Santamaria and others.
ROH VIDEO WIRE – See Clash Of The Contenders (ROH 240) review for details.
SIDENOTE – Check out the bonus features on this one. The pre-show trios match features Kyle O’Reilly and an incredibly dorky looking, future DGUSA main event star Ricochet. There’s also a trailer for the Cabana/Danielson/Rinauro/Wrestling Round Table production ‘Wrestling Road Diaries’. Any independent wrestling fan should see that by the way, it’s a fantastic watch. You can’t help but laugh at the ‘Coming 2010’ closing caption…knowing in hindsight that it wouldn’t released until well into 2011.
Jim Cornette arrives for more pro-ROH spiel. He admits it was TNA’s cash that convinced him there, but now he’s back he’s working for a product that he truly appreciates and supports. He’s also given Delirious a bye into the Survival Of The Fittest finals thanks to his performance last night, and the antics of Austin Aries. If I were any of the other 10 guys in the tournament I'd be calling Shenanigans on that...
Claudio Castagnoli announces that since he’s in the best shape of anyone in Ring Of Honor, he’s clearly going to win the tournament tonight. He beats up popcorn to prove it.
Josh Raymond/Christin Able vs Young Bucks
A non-tournament battle between two up and coming teams in the flourishing ROH tag division to get us going. The Bucks have won a lot of fans this year, and picked up big wins against the likes of the Briscoes and the DCFC. However, they lost to King and Titus last night, and now face a team who, despite losing their own match last night, put in arguably their best performance in an ROH ring thus far.
Raymond spends most of the early going hiding in the ropes to avoid going at it with Matt Jackson. Finally Jackson manages to backflip into a headscissors. Able tags in, to ‘you’re a hooker’ chants from an amusing Indiana crowd. Nick goes lucha all over Christin’s rear end, and both HOT representatives soon have to go into full retreat mode. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA out of the ring by Nick. Cheap shot from Josh distracts Matt, enabling Christin to hit a gorgeous overhead belly to belly suplex for 2. Together the HOT start throwing Matt around by the hair. Tag to Nick who slingshots into a rolling heel kick on Able. Backflip dropkicks on Josh, and Truth Martini has to get involved to save his men from More Bang For Your Buck. Christin gets 2 with an Alabamaslam on Nick. Raymond with a cross armbreaker in the ropes. For some reason Dave Prazak and Chris Hero are rambling on about Nate Webb, with the tenuous link that he used to team with Josh Raymond. Double STO/powerbomb senton combo gets the HOT a 2. As does a spinebuster/springboard moonsault combo. Nick mounts a comeback with a slingshot facebuster, rolls through multiple back suplex attempts and gets the hot tag to Matt. Standing Shiranui from Matt, then a German suplex on Raymond. Once again Martini arrives…but he accidentally levels his own guy with a shoe. MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! It’s a win for the Jacksons, another ROH defeat for the House Of Truth at 12:06
Rating - *** - The HOT did a great job of grounding the Young Bucks, and for a time this actually felt different to every other Bucks match in ROH – in that Raymond and Able COULD fly around and do crazy high spots with the Jacksons if they wanted, but chose not to. It’s been an impressive weekend for the HOT duo who, despite losing twice, have looked like a great team and an act that people will want to see more from.
Colt Cabana says he’ll win Survival Of The Fittest because he watches every season of Survivor. He then pursues Alex Payne, calling him Johnny Fairplay. Amusing…
Kevin Steen vs Colt Cabana
It’s a tough time for Mr Wrestling at the moment. He blames himself for losing Ladder War 2, his tag partner is in Japan, he’s struggling to get his head in the game, and he comes into this having lost to Roderick Strong last night even after hitting the Package Piledriver. He’ll need to be 100% focused to overcome the comedy and distracting antics of Colt Cabana if he is to advance tonight.
90 seconds pass before they even touch each other…and that first touch when it comes is Cabana making a grab at Kevin Steen’s butt. Colt takes it to the canvas as you might expect. He fakes on another handshake to chop Steen in the chest…big mistake as Mr Wrestling flattens him with a forearm strike. Big Daddy Splash misses once, but Steen misses the somersault leg drop in response, and lands in position for Colt to hit his World Of Sport homage second time around. Once again Steen seems to be struggling with his knee, but manages to limp into the cannonball senton anyway. Next he delivers a DDT, almost because he was going down anyway thanks to the pain in his knee. To the ropes next, but he takes way too long setting up for the Steen-ton and winds up flipping into Cabana’s knees. Quick pin out of that sees Cabana advance to the finals in 06:48
Rating - ** - Too short to mean much, but the comedy was pretty funny, and the nature of defeat continues the interesting Kevin Steen direction now with him struggling to get over Ladder War 2 both emotionally and, judging by his knee problems, physically too.
Roderick Strong is outside, and he points out he’s on a roll right now. Much as he was in 2005 when his momentum carried him all the way to victory in Survival Of The Fittest. He wants to make history repeat itself tonight, and show that after four years, he can finally break through and get the ROH Title.
Rhett Titus vs Roderick Strong
In this, the second of the SOTF qualification matches, Titus will be looking to avenge a defeat he suffered several months ago on HDNet. It’s not going to be easy though. As we just heard, Roddy won the tournament in 2005, defeating then-stablemate Austin Aries in a memorable final fall to secure himself a championship match with American Dragon. He failed to win the belt with that match, and has failed multiple times since then. But he’s on fire at the moment, and Strong is looking to become the first 2-time SOTF winner, then pick up his first Ring Of Honor World Title.
Is it wrong that I keep getting Rhett’s theme music stuck in my head? It’s one of the few wrestler entrances which improved after the HDNet theme music apocalypse. Others in that category are Chris Hero, Claudio and the American Wolves. Titus appears to be all business, socking Strong in the mouth during a handshake then delivering a big knee drop seconds later. Roderick replies seconds later with a pretty savage backbreaker for 2. Such is it’s ferocity that Rhett tries to leave the ring…sadly for him Strong gives chase and dishes out an UBER SICK CHOP! Titus comes from behind the timekeeper to hit a diving clothesline, and when they re-enter the ring he goes to the eyes to avoid getting chopped again. More nice heel work from him as he rolls through a crossbody attempt, grabbing the trunks to secure another nearfall over the 2005 SOTF winner. Sexy Neckbreaker scores, before Rhett heads upstairs…to come down into a jab to the stomach. Death By Roderick countered, but so is the Thrust Buster, allowing Roddy to hit the falcon arrow for 2. Thrust Buster nailed second time of asking, getting the ANX-member his own 2-count. Flipping neckbreaker once again gets 2. ROPE RUN SUPER SEX FACTOR! And again Strong kicks out. Titus is caught going to the top rope again, with Roderick hitting a big superplex. Death By Roderick/Gibson Driver combo wins it at 08:28
Rating - *** - Slightly lifeless crowd, but I thought the action here was pretty solid. Titus made the SOTF seem semi-important by working seriously – and when he got even more serious and started working the neck I was really digging it. Strong seemed to be going through the motions a little, although when he still has the finals to work you can understand why. Decent little match though.
Kenny King vs Tyler Black
I’m sure most people will have Tyler down as the favourite here – but don’t discount the Pretty Boy Pitbull. Last night he told us that the All Night Express are more focused than ever on ROH competition, whilst Black is only just back from neck surgery, and that neck took a real beating in his match with Chris Hero at Clash Of The Contenders. Tyler will be looking to send a message to Austin Aries too, having suffered a fireball attack on a recent HDNet show.
King immediately tries to run away from Black, forcing Tyler to risk his neck by hurling himself into a pescado. He tosses Kenny into the guardrails a couple of times…but that is quickly turned round on him as King reverses one, then repeatedly snaps his neck against the same railings. Credit to Tyler, he seems to be working King’s neck in return, twisting it sideways before delivering the trademark big stomp. Kenny manages to fling the ref into Black’s path, using the distraction to his advantage and punching him square in the face. Slingshot rolling heel kick nailed by Tyler, but he takes too long to follow it, allowing Kenny to gather himself and fire back with a spinning heel kick of his own. Slingshot leg drop to the back of the neck, followed by the suplex into mounted forearm strikes. He wrenches on the neck again in the ropes too. Backflip out of the corner…but Tyler comes from the second rope to hit a flying clothesline. F-5, into the Lionsault gets 2 for Black. JUMPING ENZI by King, and when Black escapes the Coronation he reacts to drop him on his neck again with a big spinebuster. Springboard clothesline COUNTERED TO THE ROYAL FLUSH FOR 2! Capoeira kick by King…PELE KICK BY TYLER! Both men go down! Kenny tries to piss Black off by going for the Cradle Piledriver used by his mentor Jerry Lynn but it’s countered. SHOTGUN KNEES MISS! SUPERKICK SCORES! Tyler advances to the finals at 12:32
Rating - *** - Slow to get going, but once they started moving through the gears it got good in a hurry. I enjoyed Tyler’s aggressive approach, flying out of the blocks and being noticeably more ruthless with King in order to protect his own neck. In turn, King got his sh*t together and did a serviceable job working that injury. In the end they abandoned a lot of the psychology to hit big moves, but that was pretty entertaining in it’s own right so no complaints from me.
Rambling promo from Petey Williams. Seriously…call up Scott D’Amore, or don’t let him talk. I admired his desire to resurrect his career in ROH like James Gibson or Jerry Lynn at least.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Petey Williams
As Petey pointed out in his promo, he’s come close to winning some recent matches with the Canadian Destroyer only to be thwarted by his opponent tonight. He’s coming to avenge those near misses, advance to the finals then go on to claim the World Title. And that’s a similar goal to that held by Claudio Castagnoli. Double C spent much of 2008 around the World Title picture, but bottomed out at the end of ’08, and has struggled to get his main event aspirations back on track whilst stuck in his feud with Brent Albright. Now that’s finished, he wants to climb the card again, and if he can win here like he did with the 2007 Race To The Top Tournament, it will be a milestone breakout moment for him.
Chris Hero says Claudio Castagnoli was once a protégé of Honky Tonk Man. That fact alone is more interesting than anything they do in the first couple of minutes. Lots of tests of strength to start, almost inevitably given Claudio’s pride in the great shape he’s in, whilst his opponent routinely calls himself Maple Leaf Muscle. What Petey lacks in strength he makes up in speed though, as he drop toeholds Claudio into the ropes to deliver a running dropkick. He goes for a bulldog, only for it to be countered with a gorgeous dead-lift German suplex. Massive fallaway slam follows next, Castagnoli’s strength advantage now starting to reveal itself. Williams goes THROUGH THE ROPES into a 619 armdrag, once again using his speed. SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! Slingshot Codebreaker scores as well, and Williams feels ready for the Destroyer. Castagnoli cuts it off with a European uppercut. UFO escaped…Bicycle Kick instead. UFO nailed second time around for a 2-count. Canadian Legsweep blocked…CANADIAN LEGSWEEP FROM THE MAT! But once again Claudio uppercuts free from the Destroyer. Riccola Bomb blocked with the Petey-T…so Claudio grabs the ref’s leg to block the Canadian Destroyer again. Unseen low blow…uppercut! Castagnoli advances in 09:48
Rating - ** - The first half was boring as anything, but the second half was really good so I’ve split the change and gone 2*. The speed vs power stuff was really good (as it always is when Claudio is involved) but I never felt like either man was doing anything more than going through the motions.
Chris Hero vs Kenny Omega
This is the final SOTF qualification match, with the winner advancing to join Delirious, Colt Cabana, Roderick Strong, Tyler Black and Claudio Castagnoli in the finals. It’s also possibly the toughest one to call. Hero has been extremely impressive lately, and holds a victory over Omega on HDNet. However, Kenny comes in to this just 24 hours removed from his best ROH match to date when he spectacularly defeated Davey Richards last night in Collinsville.
Hero wisely grounds the match right away, looking to negate the speed and athleticism of his unpredictable opponent. That lasts for a number of minutes until Kenny is able to speed things up with a flurry of armdrags. Finally Hero blocks an armdrag, stomping Omega in the face and killing his momentum. Hagadorn distracts Omega, allowing Hero to hit an atomic drop then toss him to the floor Royal Rumble style. Duelling ‘Chris Is Awesome’ vs ‘Chris Is Awful’ chants…that’s cute. Awful or not, he continues to use the methodical pace to beat down Kenny Omega. Flash Kick from the floor to the exposed head on the apron gets 2…and when Omega tries to return fire with a strike of his own, Hero TAKES HIS HEAD OFF with a crazy elbow smash on the jaw. Rolling Elbow in the corner connects, leaving poor Kenny slumped. STOP SIGN ENZI out of nowhere finally makes Hero stop elbowing him in the head. Rocket Punch scores, as does the frog crossbody for 2. ROLLING ELBOW AGAIN! That’s enough to win at 12:49…although judging from Hero’s reaction I’m not totally convinced that was the planned finish. Omega doesn’t look pleased either, shoving the ref away.
Rating - ** - I liked the strategy behind Hero’s approach – methodical pace, lots of mat work and elbow strikes to nullify the various threats Omega poses. However, for a 12 minute match this was just too slow. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but until Omega’s comeback this was SO touch to watch.
Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Austin Aries/Davey Richards
Whilst I think Dave Prazak calling this a ‘dream tag team match’ is a little excessive, there’s certainly a fair degree of intrigue here. Even after the success of the American Wolves this year, to many the Briscoes remain the top team in Ring Of Honor. But if they’re to get another shot at the Wolves, they need to earn it, and scoring a win over one half of the tag champs in this one is a good way to do that. And that’s not to mention the fact that Jay worked solo for most of the year thus far and, if he could beat Aries, would love another World Title shot too. And for the heel team, there’s the curious dynamic of Aries tagging with a guy who will be getting World Title shot soon enough – with Davey still owed a Championship Match after winning the Toronto Gauntlet in July.
Aries says he struck a deal to team with Davey tonight. Richards agreed to defer cashing in his World Title shot from this show in exchange for Aries having his back against the Briscoes. After tonight, however, all bets are off. Judging from his crowd reactions, keeping Richards heel is going to be a real challenge. Advantage Mark Briscoe in the early going as he stomps Davey’s wrist, causing him to throw a temper tantrum on the outside. AWESOME RVD/Lynn style near-miss sequence follows next with Mark and Richards fighting to a stalemate. Aries and Jay trade holds next, but I can’t concentrate because Prazak is cracking me up whilst hyping the big Aries/Ruckus match in Poland. 8 minutes in and it’s still completely even. Richards and Aries enjoy a brief spell of control on Jay before he gets a tag and is joined by his brother as they work over Davey. Aries causes a distraction to end that, handing the initiative back to his partner for the evening…who tosses Jay to the floor where A-Double is waiting to throw him into the railings. Slingshot corkscrew elbow over the knees double team by the heel team, finally enjoying the first extended period of control. But the tension between the two remains palpable, taking turns to one-up each other with stiffness, delivering a multitude of sickening kicks to poor Jay Briscoe. Richards is better at kicking…so Aries proves he’s better at chest rakes. In the end they get distracted arguing with each other…and Davey ends up delivering an inadvertent enzi kick to Austin’s face! Jay gets the hot tag to Mark who redneck ninja’s the crap out of them. Second rope Ace Crusher gets 2 on Richards. Aries saves his partner from the Splash Mountain neckbreaker, but takes a boot to the face as he lines up the IED. Doomsday Device blocked…and Aries runs into the HEAT SEEKING MISSILE ON BOTH BRISCOES! Richards get 2 with the Alarm Clock into a German suplex. BRAINBUSTER by Aries, but Mark breaks the fall. KICK DUEL between Mark and Davey. HANDSPRING ENZIGURIIIIII! HANDSPRING REVERSE ELBOW BY ARIES! He will not be outdone! They bicker over who gets to beat on Jay in the corner…and Aries accidentally pegs Richards with the IED! Aries grabs his belt and leaves…SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY CRAZY MARK! DOOMSDAY DEVICE ON RICHARDS! Briscoes win at 18:31
Rating - **** - Hugely competitive match, with the added bonus of absolutely brilliant chemistry between Aries and Richards. I’ve said it a number of times, but even if his match quality has decreased with his new style, Aries’ new gimmick is just amazing. Throwing it into the mix with the guy who’s had as good an in-ring 2009 as anyone (across all the major promotions) in Davey Richards and it’s absolute gold. They were terrific as partners, worked well as opponents to experienced tag workers like the Briscoes…and did an amazing job of building to their title match. This was miles better than anything else on the show thus far.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Chris Hero vs Delirious vs Colt Cabana vs Roderick Strong vs Tyler Black
This is the 5th instalment in the Survival Of The Fittest legacy by now – so you should all know the rules. Six men compete elimination style, with the winner receiving a guaranteed World Title shot. Interestingly, not once has the SOTF winner gone on to claim the World Title from that shot – with previous winners Bryan Danielson, Roderick Strong, Delirious and Chris Hero all failing. Three of those former winners are in this match tonight, making this one of the strongest fields to date. In 2007 Hero enjoyed arguably the most dominant SOTF win ever when he eliminated every other opponent on his way to victory. Can he, Roddy or Delirious become the first 2-time winner? Can Claudio use his superior conditioning to add this accolade to the 2007 RTTT Tournament victory? Can Cabana goof his way to another shot at the belt he promised he’d return to ROH to win? Or will Tyler Black stop dropping the ball (again) and get another opportunity to win the big one before the year is up?
Interestingly the Kings Of Wrestling stand side by side during the pre-match staredowns, neither looking particularly keen to shake hands with any of their competitors. Delirious starts, which is probably fair considering he got a ridiculous bye to the final. Cabana has fun at his expense, using that whacky British style to get the better of the equally whacky masked competitor. Hero and Claudio are tagged in together, and they are noticeably tentative to go at it. Even when they do get it on, it’s nothing more than a low impact, sporting exchange of European mat wrestling. Tags all round, with Delirious getting intimidated by Cabana’s Big Daddy posturing, so brings Strong in instead. Colt delivers a tongue-in-cheek chop to Roderick, then leaps towards the ropes to prevent Roddy returning fire. Flying Asshole misses…and after absorbing some chop Cabana wisely decides he’s best off outside and brings That Young Knockout Kid back in. The KOW start teaming up on Strong, doing a number on his arm to nullify his chopping and backbreaking ability. Amusingly Hero then brings Delirious in who ignores all of that work and starts attacking the legs instead. Thankfully for Roderick, soon there are tags all round, with the Kings now working together to focus on Tyler Black, particularly the suspect neck which Hero targeted with ruthless efficiency at Clash Of The Contenders. Big Swing Dropkick combo snaps the neck back and gets a close nearfall. We’re over 15 minutes deep here with no eliminations as yet.
Hero comes up with an awesome counter to the God’s Last Gift, twisting the neck to deliver a high angle vertical suplex. Tyler finally gets a crucial tag to Delirious who lines up the Never Ending Story on Claudio. Hero saves…so Cabana arrives for NEVER ENDING STORY ELBOWS/CLOTHESLINES on both Kings. DUELLING SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS BY STRONG AND BLACK! In the ring Delirious thinks about the Cobra Stretch only for Castagnoli to block it. Hero prevents the masked man from delivering the Panic Attack, allowing Claudio to nail the Bicycle Kick for 2. Now the KOW isolate Delirious…until he escapes the UFO and get a tag to Colt who uses all his cunning to get the best of both of them. ACCIDENTAL ROLLING ELBOW ON CLAUDIO! Cabana eliminates Castagnoli at 23:00…and then himself gets rolled up and eliminated by Delirious at 23:05. COBRA CLUTCH SUPLEX from Delirious to Roderick, only for Hero to cut-off the Panic Attack with the Flash Kick. Torpedo headbutt by Delirious blocks the Tyler springboard lariat. DOUBLE PANIC ATTACK! SICK KICK FROM STRONG TO DELIRIOUS! The masked man is gone at 24:58. ELBOWS VS CHOPS DUEL! Tyler tags in to end that, so Hero peppers his neck with elbows. Death Blow stopped with another Roderick Strong chop. ROARING ELBOW TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD FOR 2! Strong crumbles out of the ring, and Black capitalises by hitting the BUCKLE BOMB! GOD’S LAST GIFT! HERO IS GONE AT 28:39!
The final two are Strong and Tyler, who waste no time chopping lumps out of each other. Peroxism by Black, into the Macho Man Elbow Drop. God’s Last Gift countered, so Black lifts Roddy into the F-5 instead. Quebrada misses…Black Star Press misses. URINAGE BACKBREAKER! CRADLE BACKBREAKER! STRONGHOLD! Tyler gets to the ropes, then knocks Roddy to the outside with a Pele Kick. SPRINGBOARD LARIAT INTO THE F*CKING CROWD! But Black takes too much time to follow…SICK KICK! DEATH BY RODERICK! GIBSON DRIVER COUNTERED TO THE BUCKLE BOMB! SUPERKICK COUNTERED TO THE STRONGHOLD! ESCAPED….GOD’S LAST GIFT! STRONG KICKS OUT! Tyler gets crotched going for the Phoenix Splash, then booted right in the neck. TURNBUCKLE BACKBREAKER! BLACK COLLAPSES TO THE FLOOR! Sportingly, Roddy doesn’t want to win by count-out but can only get 2 after dragging Tyler back in. DEATH BY RODERICK! DEATH BY BACKBREAKER! SICK KICK! BLACK KICKS OUT AGAIN! BUCKLE BOMB! SUPERKICK! STRONG IS ALL ‘F*CK YOU’! SUPERKICK! SUPERKICK AGAIN! STILL RODDY WON’T STAY DOWN! ONE MORE SUPERKICK! IT’S THREE…BUT STRONG KICKED OUT! Weird finish…but Tyler wins at 39:56
Rating - **** - Being honest, this is the fifth SOTF now and I’m still not a massive fan of the format. However, this was probably the best SOTF match since the 2004 inaugural final, with the Black/Strong finishing sequence even rivalling the brilliance of Danielson/Aries all those years ago in Philadelphia. I really liked the opening period as well, with the KOW using a divide and conquer tactic to beat up multiple babyfaces. Indeed, what I’m really knocking this match down for is the middle portion when, after 20 minutes of really strong build up, they spectacularly managed to ditch four wrestlers in 5 minutes. Why not space them out more? Or really go for something epic and give these guys a Danielson/Aries Testing The Limit-esque 70+ minute time allocation and give them the sort of stage you really need to allow six wrestlers of this calibre enough time to properly flesh out an elimination match such as this. In terms of telling a top to bottom great story, 2007 with Chris Hero’s victory was possibly better. And possibly Danielson/Aries from 2004 just pips Black/Strong to best finishing duo. But even in 2004 I didn’t really like the match UNTIL it came down to the final 2. So in many ways, this has been the most complete SOTF match to date. Well worth going out of your way to see for sure.
Tyler wins a huge match here, but it’s not without controversy, and the fans (who were increasingly behind Roderick as the match progressed) almost turn on Tyler for the perceived shady finish. He gets them back on side with a stirring pro-ROH speech.
Tape Rating - *** - One of the better SOTF shows from down the years. The quality of this DVD wasn’t up there with the Final Countdown Tour shows, or even Clash Of The Contenders last night, however, there isn’t a bad match to be seen, the SOTF qualifiers are bright, breezy and painlessly short, which left plenty of time for the two main events which were well worth checking out. This possibly isn’t a must-own DVD (Survival Of The Fittest never is – barring 2004 perhaps) but as B-shows go, you’ll not see much better wrestling than the massively exciting Black/Strong conclusion here.
Top 3 Matches
3) Tyler Black vs Kenny King (***)
2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Austin Aries/Davey Richards (****)
1) Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong vs Chris Hero vs Delirious vs Colt Cabana vs Claudio Castagnoli (****)
Top 5 Clash Of The Contenders/Survival Of The Fittest 2009 Weekend Matches
5) Austin Aries vs Delirious (*** - Clash Of The Contenders)
4) Tyler Black vs Chris Hero (**** - Clash Of The Contenders)
3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Austin Aries/Davey Richards (**** - Survival Of The Fittest)
2) Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong vs Chris Hero vs Delirious vs Colt Cabana vs Claudio Castagnoli (**** - Survival Of The Fittest)
1) Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (****1/2 – Clash Of The Contenders)